Teen Spies
by gladrags2012
Summary: The TV programme 'Teen Spies' is going to film an episode at St Hearts. The spies have some fictional rivals. Will fiction start to interfere with real life ? Will the team be found out ? Rated T to be safe. Not sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? The TV programme 'Teen Spies' is going to film an episode at St. Hearts. Is fact going to mix with fiction ?**

**As usual, I do not own the characters from MI High, just borrowing them for a short story.**

School assembly was as interesting as usual. That of course, was not interesting at all. Aneisha did her best to look vaguely interested. Tom was trying to complete his maths homework under the cover of his school blazer. Dan was trying to stay awake. He glanced across at Zoe who, as usual, was looking cheerful and entranced with everything that was going on. He wondered what kind of dull, tortured existence she had had before MI High which would make even Mr. Flatley seem exciting. He didn't have to ask that really. Years being locked up by SKUL and taught to behave in a way totally alien to her character could have easily sent her insane. Instead she was this magical creature.

"And finally, some exciting news !" announced Mr. Flatley, excitedly. "I'm sure you've all heard rumours about a new television programme called 'Teen Spies' ? Yes ? Excellent, well I'm delighted to say that St. Hearts has been chosen as the location for one of the latest episodes to be filmed !" he said. There was a hum of excitement around the room. Dan frowned and pulled himself up in his chair. He turned and looked at Aneisha sitting next to him. She also looked concerned. "Even more exciting, the film company will be looking for extras to appear in the episode, so watch this space !" said Mr. Flatley. "Erm, school dismissed !" he added vaguely.

"Wow ! What's that going to mean ?" Aneisha said, turning to Dan.

"I don't know. I wonder if Frank knows about it ?" wondered Dan.

"About what ?" asked Tom vaguely, putting the final answer down on his maths sheet.

"Were you listening to any of that ?" asked Aneisha. Tom looked at her puzzled. "Tom, have you heard of a TV programme called 'Teen Spies' ?" asked Aneisha sounding exasperated.

"Oh yeah ! Some daft thing about teenagers being top secret spies !" laughed Tom. "Hilarious !"

Dan and Aneisha stared at Tom. "What ?" he asked looking clueless.

"So the idea of a TV company making a programme about teenage spies in the school which is the secret location of a team of teenage spies, doesn't make you at all worried ?" asked Dan meaningfully.

"Erm, well, now that you mention it. I suppose that could be a bit dodgy," admitted Tom cautiously. "Do you think Frank knows about it ?" he asked. Dan and Aneisha groaned. "What ?" demanded Tom.

They all had lessons for the morning so there was no opportunity to quiz Frank about the proposed filming in the school. They had to wait until lunchtime. As soon as they reached their base, Frank held up his hands. "Alright team, I think I know what you've come to ask me about," he said, sighing. "Teen Spies ? Am I right ?"

"Frank, this is a real TV crew isn't it ?" asked Aneisha. "It's not some KORPS attempt to identify our headquarters or something ?" she asked.

"Look, we've looked into it in some detail believe me," said Frank firmly. "It appears to be completely above board. We have had another film made some years ago with my previous team at St. Hopes, but that was a deliberate attempt on our part to catch a notorious thief. This appears to have been a spontaneous choice on the part of the production company who wanted a typical looking school away from the metropolitan area."

"So what do we do while they're here ?" asked Dan.

"We carry on as normal," said Frank. "After all, the Janitor's Cupboard is apparently a janitor's cupboard. Our security measures have been sufficient to allow you to operate within the building undetected for this long with your school friends around you. I don't see why they shouldn't work for a week of filming by a group of outsiders. Who knows, it might even be fun !" he said, grinning happily at them. On getting no responding smiles, his disappeared. "Well, some of us might enjoy it," he said, sounding disappointed.

"Mr. Flatley said something about extras," said Zoe.

"Oh, strict instructions from MI9," said Frank. "On no account are any of you to take part in any of the filming," warned Frank. "It could blow your cover. Imagine if Zoe was spotted on film and KORPS looked up where they shot the programme !"

"Nuff said," agreed Dan. "We'll stay out of it, don't worry."

"Is there anyone famous in it ?" asked Aneisha.

Frank tweaked his tie. "Well, since you mention it, Jenny Pargetter is in it," he said smiling happily and bobbing up an down on his toes.

"Who ?" asked Tom.

"Jenny Pargetter ! Oh come on. You must have heard of her," complained Frank. "Why she was huge in the eighties ..." he trailed off. "Oh. I guess you were born in about, erm, yeah, never mind," he said glumly.

Back upstairs in school, the team walked slowly towards their first afternoon class. "Well, I guess we've found another of Frank's teenage crushes," said Aneisha. "I wonder what she was in ?"

"I expect Frank will tell us," said Tom sighing. "He always does."

Over the next few days excitement in the school built. Auditions were being held for extras for the TV programme. Melissa and her friends had all signed up and she was buzzing with excitement. "Dan ! Will you be going in for a part ?" Melissa asked him one breaktime.

"Nah. Not really my kind of thing," said Dan.

"But you're good at gymnastics. I bet they'd be really interested," suggested Melissa. "Maybe we could be in it together. That would be lovely wouldn't it ?" she asked coyly.

"Mmm," said Dan, backing away from her. "Don't think so," he said, looking around for an escape route. "Got a lot of er, homework and stuff, you know ?" he said. "Got to go !" he announced finally, before dashing out of the room, leaving Melissa gazing disappointedly after him.

Their final two hours that day were PE. Tom groaned when he realised they would be doing gymnastics. "Two whole hours of hell !" he groaned to Dan in the changing rooms.

Dan sniggered. "Well, you know how I feel when maths starts !" he said.

"Yeah, but it's just so embarrassing !" complained Tom. "At least you haven't got the whole class watching you get the wrong answers," he added.

"No I suppose not," agreed Dan. "Come on. At least it's only us and we already know you're rubbish at it," he said, grinning at his friend.

Tom looked up him annoyed, but couldn't help smiling in return.

They filed out into the hall to find the two PE teachers accompanied by a woman with a clipboard. "Alright boys, warm-ups !" ordered the PE teacher. He had them run round the room, do some stretching exercises and some press-ups, Tom and Roly bringing up the rear as usual. Next they were told to do hand-stands against the wall, climb the ropes and do simple forward rolls on the mats. Near the end they were lined up to leap over the vault. The teacher's gradually increased the difficulty until some of the boys were being asked to somersault over the vault. Only three of them managed this successfully, one of whom was Dan. "Are you ready for a challenge then boys ?" the teacher asked the three of them. They looked at each other apprehensively then nodded.

"Right, how about a vault and somersault ?" asked the teacher. "I think you could do it. Mrs. Aberfoyle and I will be here to support you if you struggle. How about it ?" They agreed and lined up at the end of the run-up.

The two boys in front of Dan almost made it. The first one only vaulted. The second was instructed to grab his ankles as he vaulted, then the two teachers spun him over so that he landed on his feet. All the boys gave him a round of applause. It came to Dan's turn and he felt excited. He worked out how to pace his run-up and set off, focussing on the vaulting horse. He touched his hands lightly to the vaulting horse, curled and spun in the air before landing on his feet. This got him an even bigger round of applause. "Good work Daniel," said the PE teacher smiling. "All right boys. Go and get changed. Well done all of you. You all did your best," he added.

Dan was still high on adrenaline as he strolled to the end of the mat breathing heavily. Tom walked up to him. "Hey, smarty-pants !" said Tom with a grin. Dan stopped suddenly, slipped on the mat and fell over backwards on to the landing mat. "Oops, sorry," said Tom.

Dan laughed. "No worries !" he said, put his hands behind his shoulders and jumped directly to his feet.

"Aw, now you're just showing off !" complained Tom.

The two boys strolled together to the changing rooms to get changed. As they left to collect their things from their lockers, Dan was stopped by the PE teacher. "Congratulations Dan !" said the teacher. Dan looked baffled. "You've got a part in the TV programme," said the teacher, smiling widely. He waved to the woman with the clipboard who had been watching their lesson. "This lady is one of the casting directors. She giving you a part in the programme. Well done Dan !" he said cheerily.

"Wait, but I," said Dan. He was cut off by the woman with the clipboard.

"That's Daniel Morgan isn't it ?" she asked efficiently. "I'll need this consent form signed by your parents," she said, giving him no chance to speak. She scribbled on the form and handed it to Dan. "Well done Daniel. We'll see you on Monday morning. The details are given in this letter. Goodbye !" she said, turning and walking off down the corridor.

"Uh oh ! Frank's not going to like this !" said Tom from behind Dan.

"What happened ?" asked Dan, confused.

"Sounds like you've been recruited," said Tom.

"How do I get out of it ?" asked Dan.

"Well, you could ask your parents not to sign the form," suggested Tom.

Dan clicked his fingers. "Brilliant !" he said.


	2. Chapter 2

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ?**

"_Sounds like you've been recruited," said Tom._

"_How do I get out of it ?" asked Dan._

"_Well, you could ask your parents not to sign the form," suggested Tom._

_Dan clicked his fingers. "Brilliant !" he said._

Dan's parents were thrilled. "Daniel what a fantastic opportunity !" said his mother.

"But I don't want to do it !" complained Dan.

"Why ever not ?" asked his mother. "You're not getting shy again are you ? This is a wonderful chance to use all your skills," said his mother. "Give it a go. You might like it !" she said. Then she signed the form and handed it back to him, ruffling his hair. Dan stood in the hallway of his house, staring glumly at the consent form. He was in deep trouble.

On Monday morning he dragged himself through the school gates, with an intense sense of foreboding. Frank was not going to be happy ! He found Aneisha and Zoe looking equally glum. "What happened ?" asked Dan, concerned.

"We've been picked to be in one of the background scenes !" complained Aneisha. "We didn't even put our names down. Zoe too. They wouldn't take no for an answer. In fact, they didn't ask for an answer. They just put our names down !" she added.

"But Zoe can't do it !" said Dan.

"I can't seem to get out of it," said Zoe, sounding worried. "I suppose I'll just have to make sure I stand at the back where nobody can see me. That's not the worst thing though," she said rolling her eyes.

"What's worse than that ?" asked Dan.

"Melissa didn't get in," said Aneisha.

"Oh !" said Dan.

Tom strolled up beside them. "You told your parents not to sign the consent form then," he said to Dan.

"Yes I did. Unfortunately they ignored me and signed it anyway !" said Dan grumpily.

"What consent form ?" asked Zoe.

"Dan got picked out doing gymnastics," explained Tom. "He's got a part in the programme."

"What are we going to say to Frank ?" asked Aneisha. The bell rang. They looked at one another and went in for registration.

At breaktime they all trooped down to their base. "You're what ?" demanded Frank angrily.

"I couldn't get out of it !" said Dan unhappily. "They all rail-roaded me into it. I didn't ask to do it !"

"He's telling you the truth Frank," said Tom. "There was this woman watching our gymnastics class. Dan got picked out and she just signed him up without asking," he added.

"My Mum says it'll give me a chance to show off my gymnastics skills," said Dan gloomily.

This made Frank want to laugh. It was funny seeing them so fed up with being given a golden opportunity. At least it would have been a golden opportunity if they weren't already real spies. "Look, I suppose there's no point crying over spilt milk," said Frank. "I'll let HQ know what's happened. It will be up to you to try to minimise your exposure OK ?" They all nodded.

"Zoe's going to try to stay in the background," said Dan. "I don't actually know what they want me to do yet," he added.

After lunch, all the students who had been selected for filming were asked to meet in the school hall. Melissa and two of her friends looked daggers at the group as they were given leave from their class to go.

They all sat down in seats laid out in the hall. A tall thin man came out to meet them. "Welcome everyone to 'Teen Spies'. I'm sure all of you will have seen the stars of our show before," he said, gesturing behind him to a group of four teenagers. "This is Mike Masters," he said, introducing a tall, athletic looking boy who nodded. "This is Maria Pavlova," he said introducing a slender, olive skinned girl with dark eyes. She smiled sweetly at them all. "This is Laura Ndoba," he said waving forward a dark-skinned girl who smiled. "And last, but not least Timothy Spinks," he said as a skinny, geeky-looking guy in glasses stepped forward and grinned happily at them all.

Aneisha leaned across to Dan. "Am I the only one getting a deeply creepy feeling ?" she whispered. Dan sniggered.

"Now some of you have been asked to act as background artistes," said the man. "Could you all stand up please ? We'll check off your names." The woman who had signed up Dan came forward and read out a list of names which included Aneisha and Zoe. "Would you all go with Amanda please ?" asked the man, and the group were all ushered out of the hall. This left Dan and Byron sitting in the hall on their own. They looked at one another dubiously, then back to the front.

"So, you must be Daniel and Brian ?" asked the man at the front, looking at his list.

"It's Dan," said Dan.

"It's Byron," said Byron.

"Dan and Byron, excellent," said the man making a note. "I'm the director Alan. Now, Dan, we've got you down as being excellent at gymnastics. Do you have any other physical skills ?" he asked.

"Erm, well I skateboard and I do a bit of parkour," said Dan, wondering how much information he should give.

"Excellent !" said Alan. "And Byron, we have you down as a musician. Is there anything else ?" asked Alan.

"Not really, no," said Byron, looking uncomfortable. "Just guitar and singing really," he said, glancing at Dan.

"That's fine," said the director. "Well, Byron, we've got a small background role for you. Non-speaking part, I'm afraid. Similarly for you Dan. We're going to get you to work with our stunt coordinator. I hope you enjoy your week boys !" said the man cheerily. As Dan was led away he passed the group of young actors. They were discussing their roles with one of the crew and paid no attention to Dan and Byron.

Dan spent the rest of the afternoon with one of the stuntmen. He really enjoyed himself and the stuntman seemed surprised at what he could do. "You should do this for a living mate !" said the man, laughing. "You're better than the kid we've got doing the role !" Then he glanced around him furtively. "Don't tell him I said that will you ?" he asked. Dan laughed and said he probably wouldn't get the chance anyway. "Right, we'd better give you some basic fight training," said the man raising his hands into a fight pose. Dan instantly dropped into a defensive position without thinking about it. The stuntman looked at him puzzled. "Where did you learn to do that ?" he asked.

Dan thought desperately for a moment. "Erm, off TV ?" he offered tentatively. This was going to be harder than he'd thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? Spies pretending to be spies ?**

"_Right, we'd better give you some basic fight training," said the man raising his hands into a fight pose. Dan instantly dropped into a defensive position without thinking about it. The stuntman looked at him puzzled. "Where did you learn to do that ?" he asked._

_Dan thought desperately for a moment. "Erm, off TV ?" he offered tentatively. This was going to be harder than he'd thought._

At the end of the day a tired Dan met up with his friends at the lockers. "What have you been doing then ?" he asked the two girls.

"Oh it was pretty boring. We had to stand around in a group listening to the lead actors saying their lines and looking like we were interested," said Aneisha. "They had to do it over and over again. I know all the lines off by heart now !" she complained.

"Did you manage to stay out of the way ?" Dan asked Zoe.

She shrugged. "Well, I tried. They kept on pushing me back into the middle when I tried to slip out of view," she said. "How about you ? You look tired," she said.

"Oh I spent all afternoon training with the stunt coordinator," said Dan. "I nearly blew it when he started the fight training. I couldn't help dropping straight into it."

"You're going to have to be careful," said Tom quietly, looking around him. "You could make them suspicious. Oh, watch out, incoming !" he warned. They all looked around to see Melissa homing in on them.

"Well, how was our first day of filming ?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"I didn't do any," said Dan. "Just running around. Zoe and Aneisha did some filming I think."

"Well, I hope Mike Masters was impressed," said Melissa, sounding thoroughly hacked off.

"I don't know. He never spoke to any of us," said Aneisha. "All we did was stand around listening. How about you Byron ?" she asked as Byron slouched towards them.

"Oh, nothing much happened," said Byron. "They just wanted me to sing this cheesy song. I think one of the actors is going to pretend to be singing and they'll dub it with my voice."

"Won't you be on the screen then ?" asked Zoe.

"Nah. They just wanted my voice," said Byron.

"Oh, that's not fair !" said Zoe.

"Well, at least you'll get to be in it !" said Melissa petulantly. "Some of us aren't even going to get the chance," she said, before walking off in a huff.

"Something tells me we're never going to hear the end of this," groaned Dan. "Sorry about your song Byron," he said. Byron shrugged his shoulders and walked off with his guitar slung over his back.

The next day Dan was called to fight training with the other actors. He nodded at the stuntman who he had worked with the day before, who grinned back at him. Another man walked in. "OK everybody, I'm James and I'll be choreographing your fight today," he said. "It'll be the five of you," he said turning to look at them. Finally he looked at Dan and did a double-take. So did Dan. He knew this guy from somewhere. The man paused and then carried on as if nothing had happened. The fight involved Dan as a bad guy attacking the four main characters. He had the most work to do in the scene so spent the morning working hard getting all his actions in the right order.

"You're picking this up really quickly," said Laura. "It takes me ages to get everything in the right order. Maria gets it much more quickly. I guess it's because she does dance."

"It does help," agreed Maria. "You seem to have got all the moves though," she added, smiling at him.

"Don't even ask me !" laughed Timothy. "I've been doing dance for years and I still can't get one foot in front of the other in the right order. I'm doing well to walk across the floor."

Dan laughed. The guy really reminded him of Tom. "You're nothing of the sort," he said. "I guess I've got beginner's luck," he added.

"Yeah," agreed Mike. He didn't look too pleased at the amount of attention Dan was getting from the girls. They were told to go for a break. As Dan walked towards the boys' toilets, James, the fight coordinator pulled him into a room being used by the production company.

"What the hell are you doing here ?" asked James.

"This is my school," said Dan. "Oh, wait ! I've just remembered. What are you doing here ?" he demanded. He'd just realised who the guy was. "You gave us our fight training at training camp !" he whispered.

"Yes that's right. I do lots of jobs. I'm freelance," said James. "A few government jobs and some filming stuff."

"You weren't called James," said Dan.

"No. I go by different names when I'm working with the public," explained James. "How come MI9 let you do this then ?" he asked curiously.

Dan sighed. "I got railroaded into it. I never meant to be in it. The casting director came and watched our gymnastics and I got picked out. I couldn't get out of if. I'm trying to keep a low profile," he added.

"Hm. We're going to have to do something about that," said James. Then he clicked his fingers. "I know. We'll get you a mask. That'll hide your face and it'll make Mike a lot happier. You've really put that kid's nose out of joint. He's a pain that boy. I'd love you to rub his nose in it, but that's not really appropriate in the circumstances," he said grinning at Dan. "The idiot thinks he's got what it takes to be a real spy. Ha ! He wouldn't last five minutes. You still got that girl Zoe ?" asked James. Dan told him she was still with them. "Wow, that girl could fight ! Never seen anyone like her," said James. "OK, well, we'll go carefully, and try not to be too good OK ?" he said to Dan. Dan promised he'd do his best and they went their separate ways.

At lunch, Dan met up with the others. "You'll never guess who's coordinating the fight sequences," he said.

"Who ?" asked Tom.

"You remember the tall, dark-haired guy who taught us hand-to-hand combat at training camp ?" asked Dan. "It's him. He's freelancing. He asked after you Zoe," he added. "Said he'd never seen a fighter like you." Zoe blushed.

That afternoon they started filming the fight sequence. Dan was dressed in a black one-piece and given a black ninja-style scarf and mask. Only his eyes were visible. Mike smirked when he saw him. "Hope your Mum recognises you in that get-up," he said. The other actors were also dressed in all-black outfits. Dan guessed it must be the spy-clothing of choice. He started by somersaulting off a table and pretending to kick Laura. When Mike pretended to knock him down, he had to jump from the floor to his feet and start fighting back. He did fake karate with Timothy and Maria, did a few more somersaults and kicks before Mike had to pretend to knock him down with a metal pipe.

Dan was pleased when they'd finished. He was shattered and boiling hot in the mask. "Thanks Dan," said Maria. "You were great !" she said smiling.

Dan pulled off his mask and smiled back at her. "Thanks !" he said. "Good luck with the rest of the shoot."

"Thanks," said Maria, Laura and Timothy.

"It was nice working with you," said Timothy, holding out his hand. Dan shook his hand and said goodbye to them all.

School had finished, so he grabbed his stuff and headed down to base. When he arrived, the others were already there. "Ah, Dan. Are you finished ?" asked Frank.

"Yes. I've done my bit now," said Dan, throwing himself gratefully into an empty chair.

"Good, because we've got a mission," said Frank. "Watch this," he said, playing a video on the big screen.


	4. Chapter 4

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? Set up to fail.**

"_Ah, Dan. Are you finished ?" asked Frank._

"_Yes. I've done my bit now," said Dan, throwing himself gratefully into an empty chair. _

"_Good, because we've got a mission," said Frank. "Watch this," he said, playing a video on the big screen._

The screen showed an entrance gate guarded by soldiers. A lorry full of soldiers arrived at the gate and the driver started talking to the officer at the gate. Suddenly the two guards fell to the ground. Someone jumped out of the lorry and opened the gate. The lorry drove through. The scene then cut to an inconspicuous looking building. The lorry arrived and people poured out of the back and rushed the building. There were a few shots of soldiers running through the building and fighting their way into laboratories. They were shown stealing equipment and carrying it out, before the film ended.

"What did they take ?" asked Tom.

"Top secret military equipment," said Frank. "MI9 believe it is being used to build a missile. Other items have been taken from other locations. In their own right they're not significant, but put together, they pose a serious threat."

"What's left on the shopping list then ?" asked Tom.

"We think they need one final component. It's a guidance system which is made by one of the main defence contractors on one single site," explained Frank. "This site is about 20 miles away from here. We've been tasked with monitoring the site and preventing the theft."

"We can't guard a site forever," pointed out Aneisha. "Won't they just come back again if they don't get it the first time ?" she asked.

"Ah, that's the clever bit," said Frank leaning forward in his chair. "We're going to fail."

"Fail ?" asked Zoe.

"He means, we're to let them get away with it," said Dan. Frank nodded. "And then I assume we have to follow them and find out where they're taking it," Dan added.

"Well, the device will have a tracker built in. Tom will be doing the tracking remotely. We may take part in the recapture if the thieves' base is near here. We don't know where they're going yet," pointed out Frank.

The following day, Dan, Zoe and Aneisha were called up for filming again. This call was faked by Frank and they met up behind the school in secret where they climbed into their transport. "Do you know if they're going to attack today ?" asked Aneisha.

"We think so. It fits in with the overall pattern," said Frank over their headsets. "Ready Tom ?"

"Ready," said Tom's voice.

The team were driven to the secret defence site and took up their positions within the building. They waited for what seemed like hours. "Are we waiting for KORPS ?" asked Dan. He was sitting in a surveillance room, staring at a bank of monitors with the regular security guard.

"We don't know, but we don't think it's a terrorist group," said Frank. "They're very well organised and their technical know-how is superb. We don't know of any terrorist group with the ability to construct a missile from its individual parts," he explained. Dan grunted in response. He was bored. He was never any good at sitting still.

"Are you as bored as me ?" Dan asked the others.

Aneisha's voice came over his headset. "Difficult to tell from here Dan, but going by your usual standards, I think I'm rapidly approaching your level of boredom. I hope they get here soon !" she said.

"Whoah ! Something's up," warned Dan. He had a seen a large van arriving at the factory gates. He pointed to the monitor and the security man focussed in on the action. Sure enough the guard at the gate was soon lying unconscious on the ground and the van was entering the compound. "Mission on people !" warned Dan. "They're on site. Looks like they're heading for the rear loading bay. I'll meet you in the lab Zoe." He got up and ran out of the room, relieved to be on the move again.

Aneisha was sitting in an office at the rear of the building, watching over activities around the loading bay. "It looks like about fifteen people getting out of the van," she reported. "They've opened the back door and they're making their way into the building. Zoe, do you have sight of them yet ?" she asked.

"Not yet," said Zoe. She was hiding behind a trolley in the corridor. She heard running footsteps behind her and looked round to see Dan coming towards her. There was a bang and she looked back the other way. A security door was flung open by an explosion and a team of people dressed in black poured through. They spotted Dan running towards them and before he could duck out of the way they tasered him. Dan crumpled to the floor, twitching. Zoe tossed a smoke bomb into the corridor, angry at seeing Dan hurt. She wasn't going to make it too easy for them. "Dan's down," she reported.

As smoke filled the corridor, the attackers slowed, feeling their way along the wall. Zoe pulled on a mask and heat sensor goggles before going on the attack. She took out two of the agents and heard fighting from the other end of the corridor. Aneisha must have arrived.

"Make sure you let some of them through Zoe," ordered Frank over the headsets.

Reluctantly Zoe ducked and rolled through the smoke, past some of the enemy agents to the other end of the corridor to join Aneisha. She saw the heat signatures of a group of agents making their way down the corridor behind her past Dan's prone body and towards their target. She held her breath as one leant down and touched Dan's body. They then stood up and moved on with the others and she started breathing again. "Some of them are on their way," she reported. She then helped Aneisha knock out the few agents remaining in the corridor. She wished she could find the one who'd tasered Dan. She wanted to give them an extra special thrashing.

With nobody left conscious in the corridor, Zoe and Aneisha ran to help Dan. Zoe gently fitted his mask so he wouldn't breathe in too much smoke. Together they managed to drag him into a small side room. They found a gaggle of terrified technicians hiding in the room. "It's OK. They'll be gone soon," Aneisha said to them. "Just lie low for now. They only want the equipment."

After a few minutes they heard the sound of feet running past in the corridor outside. After a minute, Aneisha stuck her head cautiously out of the door. She was in time to see the last unconscious agent being dragged out of the door at the end. "They're going," she said, touching her earpiece.

"Got that," said Tom's voice. "The tracker is working. The device has moved position to the outside of the factory. They're now leaving the site. You can come out guys."

"It's OK. They've gone now," Zoe told the frightened workers.

"Do you need any help team ?" asked Frank's voice.

"Dan's coming round," said Aneisha. "I'm OK. Are you Zoe ?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," said Zoe. "How are you feeling Dan ?" she asked.

"Oooh, my head is splitting !" mumbled Dan. He tried to roll on to his side, but gave up. As he focussed his eyes he found a sea of heads all staring down at him. "Have they gone ?" he asked.

"Yes, it's safe now," said Zoe. "You take it easy for a bit. There are medics on the way."

"I'm fine," groaned Dan.

"Yeah, that's why you're lying on the floor," said Aneisha sarcastically.


	5. Chapter 5

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? The wrong spies.**

"_Yes, it's safe now," said Zoe. "You take it easy for a bit. There are medics on the way."_

"_I'm fine," groaned Dan._

"_Yeah, that's why you're lying on the floor," said Aneisha sarcastically._

The team were back at school by lunchtime. Tom had tracked the missile guidance system to a location in the city centre. MI9 were now monitoring the site. They all returned to the surface in the lift, Dan rubbing the back of his neck. "You OK Dan ?" asked Zoe looking concerned. "Frank said you could take the rest of the day off if you want."

"No. There's no point sitting around at home feeling stiff. I might as well do that at school," said Dan. They carefully exited the Janitor's Cupboard into the corridor and headed off to the canteen. "Anyway, I'm hungry," he said with a grin.

At a KORPS base in the city centre a KORPS agent was reporting to the Crime Minister. "I thought I recognised the blond haired boy Crime Minister," said the agent. "We recorded the image," he said, showing her a picture of Dan running on the screen.

"Yes, that's the boy," said the Crime Minister.

"I planted a tracer in his clothes Crime Minister. We've tracked his location to a secondary school near the outskirts of the city," said the agent.

"Excellent. I want him. We can use him to get to V95," said the Crime Minister. "While we're at it, we'll take the whole team of spy brats. I want them captured !" she ordered.

"Yes Crime Minister. I'll see to it," said the agent, who turned crisply and left the room. Finally he had his chance to get somewhere in this organisation he thought gleefully. It shouldn't be too hard to capture a bunch of kids ! They'd been no trouble at the defence contractor's after all.

That afternoon the film crew set up in the school yard ready to film their outdoor action sequences. Mike Masters was waiting for his first scene with Maria. He was wearing a disguise of a blond wig and his eyebrows had been lightened to match. He secretly fancied Maria, but hadn't dared admit it to her. The girl was seriously hot, especially in that red wig. There were only a couple of years age difference between them and she was friendly towards him, but admittedly not **that** friendly. He sneaked a look at her going over her lines before they rehearsed in front of camera. Tim was sitting on a wall with Laura watching the other two.

"He so fancies her," whispered Laura.

"Yep, no doubt about it," said Tim. "Do you think she's noticed ?" he asked.

"Pretty sure she hasn't," said Laura.

"Do you think she'd go out with him if she knew ?" asked Tim.

"I don't know," said Laura. "He's a bit up himself isn't he ?"

"A bit ?" said Tim with a snort. "He told me he could be a spy if he wanted to. His Dad works in some government department or something. He reckons he could get into one of the secret services if he wanted."

"What an idiot !" laughed Laura. "Who ever heard of kids being spies ? Anyway, I don't think he's Maria's type. Now that guy Dan, he's a different matter. He's someone with a secret."

"What kind of secret ?" asked Tim.

"I don't know. If I knew, it wouldn't be a secret would it ?" said Laura laughing. "That's what draws a girl in you know. Hidden depths," she said jokingly.

"How deep can they be hidden ?" asked Tim cheekily. Laura burst out laughing and nudged him in the ribs. "Too deep huh ?" said Tim with mock dismay. This made Laura laugh even harder.

Finally everyone was ready and Mike and Maria rehearsed and then recorded their scene. Then Tim and Laura joined them. Cameras had been camouflaged so they wouldn't be visible around the school yard. They had to run across the yard, dodging behind hiding places marked out for them. After two attempts the camera team still hadn't got a clear shot without background interference or missed sections. "Take a break team !" called the director. "We need to reset one of the cameras. It's not getting you all in the middle segment. Hang out here for a couple of minutes please," he added. The actors all sat down on one of the picnic benches breathing heavily from all the running.

Tom was sitting in art, with half an eye on the activities going on outside. It was quite interesting watching how all the equipment was set up. It made him smile watching the actors running back and forth across the school yard. It was like watching PE gone mad. He scribbled a few more bits of his life drawing of the old boot in front of him. Why did art teachers love old boots so much ? He must have drawn three at least since he started secondary school. Bored once again, he glanced out of the window to see what the film crew were doing now. The film crew had disappeared behind shelter again while they filmed the actors running across the yard.

Then a large white van drew into the yard and roared up alongside the actors. They stopped running in confusion. Suddenly men dressed in black poured out of the van, grabbed all four of the actors and bundled them into the back of the van which then drove off. The director and crew ran out from their positions, but it was too late. The actors were gone. Tom sat with his mouth open. What had just happened ? Oh no. He think he knew what had happened. Still in shock he pulled his communicator pencil out of his inside pocket. Seeing the teacher staring at him, he pretended to make a few marks on the paper with his communicator. Then he put up his hand and asked to be excused.

Once in the toilets, Tom called Frank. "Frank, I think KORPS have kidnapped the Teen Spies' actors !" he hissed anxiously into the communicator.

"What are you talking about Tom ?" asked Frank. Tom explained what he had just seen through the window.

"Oh, this could be serious," said Frank. "I'll look at the CCTV footage and get back to you. You'd better get back to class," he instructed. Tom returned to his class, but struggled to concentrate for the rest of the lesson. His attention kept being drawn to the window and the sight outside of frantic activity amongst the film crew, followed by the arrival of the police.

At the end of the day, Tom met up with Dan, Aneisha and Zoe by the school doors. "What's going on ?" asked Aneisha, looking out on police cars, flashing lights and general mayhem.

"I guess you didn't notice then," said Tom. The others all looked at him. Before he could explain their communicators started flashing. "Frank wants us. Come on ! I think I know what he wants us for," he said. The others inundated him with questions on the way to their base, but Tom thought it would be best for Frank to explain what had happened. Tom didn't quite believe it himself.

"What !" exclaimed Dan as they watched the CCTV footage of the Teen Spies actors being kidnapped. "That's crazy ! Who'd want to kidnap a bunch of actors in a kids' TV programme ?" Then he noticed something familiar. "Oh wait a minute. Are you seeing what I'm seeing ?" he asked.

"You mean, a tallish guy with blond hair, an athletic girl with red hair, a girl with darker skin and hair and a slightly bookish-looking boy ?" asked Frank, with his arms folded and eyebrows raised.

"Ooooh," said Aneisha, Zoe, Dan and Tom.

"That is really, really unlucky," said Tom slowly.

"Luckily we know where they are," said Frank. "Our surveillance team at the KORPS base saw the van arriving about an hour ago."

"How did they find us ?" asked Aneisha.

"Let's see !" said Frank, pulling out a device like a small metal detector from his desk. He ran the device over all the team. When he got to Dan it started to beep.

"Dan, you're bugged !" said Tom.

Dan started patting his clothes. The beeping was loudest near his chest. He opened some of the zips in his jacket and felt around inside the various pockets and folds. Finally he opened the inside pocket and felt down inside it. He pulled out a small flat button shaped object and handed it to Frank. Frank put it on a bench and smashed it with a hammer. They all jumped when he hit it.

"Sorry Frank. I don't know how that got there," said Dan, looking ashamed.

"Oh, I know ! One of the KORPS agents leant over you when you were unconscious on the floor at the defence contractor's site," said Zoe, looking guilty. "I couldn't see what they were doing because of the smoke. Sorry Dan !" she said.

"All right team. We can't undo what's happened. Clearly the actors were mistaken for you after KORPS traced Dan to the school. They're in serious trouble. We've got to find a way to get them out and recover the missile that KORPS have been building. I'm open to suggestions," said Frank.


	6. Chapter 6

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? The rescue.**

"_All right team. We can't undo what's happened. Clearly the actors were mistaken for you after KORPS traced Dan to the school. They're in serious trouble. We've got to find a way to get them out and recover the missile that KORPS have been building. I'm open to suggestions," said Frank._

Mike, Laura, Tim and Maria sat in the back of the van with their hands tied behind their backs. "What the hell are you playing at ?" demanded Mike angrily. "This isn't in the script !"

"Shut up kid !" snarled one of the men guarding them. "The Crime Minister is looking forward to seeing you, and you," he added, turning to Maria.

"Who's the Crime Minister ?" asked Mike angrily. "Nobody would give one of the characters such a ridiculous name ! He's not in our show."

The guard reached across and slapped Mike across the face. "You'll show some respect boy ! She'll see that you do. Now shut up !"

Mike was stunned. That had really hurt. The others looked shell-shocked. What on earth was happening. None of the film team would ever have hit them. These people were seriously scary in a very real way. It began to sink in that they were in very real trouble.

Finally the van stopped and they were all hauled out and pushed into a building. After being propelled down numerous corridors they were shoved into a room and pushed into chairs. Scared and confused they waited to see what would happen next. At last a creepy looking woman with dark hair walked in. She glared at the four actors sitting in the chairs. "Are these the kids you tracked ?" she asked quietly after a short pause.

One of the guards looked a bit nervous suddenly. "Yes Crime Minister, we found them outside the school," he said.

The Crime Minister walked up to Mike. She grabbed his hair and pulled off the blond wig. "Does this look like a blond boy to you ?" she asked icily. Then she walked over to Maria and pulled off her auburn wig. The guard swallowed and looked terrified. "These are not the spies !" shouted the Crime Minister. "You've kidnapped a random group of kids dressed up as spies, you idiot ! You will pay for this fool !" Then she spun round to face the terrified actors. "Get them out of here. Lock them up ! We'll have to decide what to do with them now. And as for you," she said, stalking across to the now terrified guard. "You will have to pay heavily for your incompetence. Take him away !" she yelled. Two guards grabbed the man by the arms and dragged him out screaming and shouting. Then more guards came and took the four teens to a room which looked like a prison cell, untied them and left them alone. In the distance they could hear a man screaming.

"What just happened ?" asked Tim shakily sitting down on a narrow bed.

"I don't know. But I know we are in deep, deep trouble," said Laura. "Someone thought we were real spies."

"Who would think we were real spies ?" asked Maria. "We're obviously teenagers. There aren't any real teenage spies are there ? Are there ?"

Laura shrugged. "They obviously think there are," she said, nodding towards the corridor outside. She looked across at Mike who hadn't yet said a word. "You all right Mike ?" she asked.

Mike looked up at her. He had a red mark on the side of his face where the guard had hit him. "Yeah. I'm OK," he said. He shivered. "What do you think they're going to do with us ?" he asked, looking across at Tim.

"Don't ask me," said Tim. "I just look smart. I'm an actor remember !" This made Laura and Maria laugh, and he even got a small smile out of Mike. "Well, we don't know anything, and we haven't seen anything, so hopefully they'll just let us go, right ?" he said hopefully. The others all looked at him, but nobody replied. They were all fervently hoping he was right.

Meanwhile at St. Heart's the team were looking back at Frank. "I'm clean out of suggestions at the moment Frank," said Dan finally. "Could we just raid the place ?" he asked hopefully.

"We could," agreed Frank. "There is always the risk that something could happen to those actors though. It would be better if we could free them first before a raid to recover the missile."

"What kind of place is this KORPS base ?" asked Aneisha. "Could we carry out a health inspection or something like that ?" she asked.

"Not really no. It's an abandoned industrial facility," explained Frank.

"What about the services, you know, air-conditioning and stuff ?" suggested Tom.

"They're not officially there so they're not paying for any services," said Frank.

"They've got to have electricity or phones or drains," said Dan thinking wildly.

"That's it ! Drains !" said Frank, snapping his fingers.

"Drains ? Why did I say drains !" groaned Dan, putting his head in his hands.

"It's our only way in Dan !" said Tom.

"You can be as pleased as you like," said Dan sounding annoyed. "You won't be going into them ! Oh please tell me there won't be any rats. I hate rats," he groaned.

Frank was busily pulling up screens full of maps of the area surrounding the KORPS base. "OK, I'm going to sort this out with HQ. The police have already contacted MI9 about the Teen Spies' disappearance because they guessed it might be connected with our activities. We've promised to deal with it. We're going to have to go in tonight. Could you all please arrange sleepovers with one another ? Zoe, I'll sort it out with your Safe House manager. The rest of you need to get it sorted with your parents OK ? Be back here by 8pm please." The team agreed and left to sort things out with their families.

At half past eight that night, Dan, Aneisha and Zoe were getting into large orange overalls with built in rubber boots. "That's right, just put them over your clothes," said Frank encouragingly. "Gloves," he said, handing them all a pair of thick black gloves. "They're normally used by divers to avoid being bitten," said Frank. The three agents instantly stopped and stared at him.

"Did you say, 'bitten' ?" asked Dan suspiciously.

"Yes. Well, just to be on the safe side obviously," said Frank cheerily. Dan didn't look any happier. "An finally, these," he said, handing them each a full-face breathing mask.

"And why do we need these ?" asked Aneisha.

"There can be toxic gases in the sewers. Apparently they smell pretty bad too," said Frank with a forced smile. All three agents stared at the masks before putting up their hoods and then pulling the masks over the top. Frank thought they all looked pretty alien in their outfits. Dan's barely fitted him and both Aneisha and Zoe were dwarfed by theirs which were sagging and baggy. "Fortunately you won't have to wear them for long," Frank assured them. His voice was now coming through earpieces built into the gas masks. "Take them off and dump them as soon as you get inside. The smell will probably give away your positions," he added. They all looked at him, accusingly before leaving the van where they were getting ready.

The three of them stood looking down a manhole cover which had been opened up by a group of sewer maintenance workmen. "Are there any rats down there ?" asked Dan, his voice sounded muffled by the mask.

"Hundreds of 'em mate," said one of the workers cheerily. He clapped Dan on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. They can't get you through the suit. Never bitten us have they Shughie ?" he asked his colleague.

"Naw. Nobody's been bit since last month," agreed the other man. "He had the injections. He's fine now," he added.

Frank could have sworn that Dan's shoulders drooped inside his enormous protective suit. The three teens switched on their powerful torches and reluctantly descended the ladder into the sewer.

"Good luck team !" Frank called into his microphone.

"You sure this is a good idea ?" asked one of the workmen when all three had disappeared down the hole.

"No, I'm not," said Frank. "We're clean out of alternatives though," he added, sounding worried.


	7. Chapter 7

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? Down the drain.**

"_Good luck team !" Frank called into his microphone._

"_You sure this is a good idea ?" asked one of the workmen when all three had disappeared down the hole._

"_No, I'm not," said Frank. "We're clean out of alternatives though," he added, sounding worried._

Tom pulled another biscuit out of the packet and munched it, making sure he'd switched the microphone off first. He was so, so glad he wasn't with the others. Sure, sitting in the base could be pretty tedious at times, but he really preferred it to a sewer any day. There was no point rubbing it in by making them listen to him eating a biscuit while they were fighting their way underground. He watched the different coloured dots on his screen. They were coming up to a junction. He swallowed his biscuit and opened the mic.

"Guys, there's a junction coming up. You need to take the left hand tunnel and follow it to a drop. I'll warn you when it's coming up. You will need to climb down a ladder and continue in the same direction," he told the others. He watched the dots following the left hand tunnel as he had told them. They were nearing the drop. "OK guys, about 20 metres in front of you is a drop. There should be a ladder to take you down," instructed Tom. He watched as the three dots converged on the drop, stayed in that place and then continued moving in the original direction.

There was a crackle on his earpiece, followed by Aneisha's voice. "How much longer Tom ?" she asked. Her voice sounded strained and Tom instantly felt guilty. It had to be really horrible down there.

"If you keep up your current speed, you should hit the entry point in about 15 minutes," Tom told Aneisha. "Oh, another junction coming up. Turn into the right hand tunnel this time. Follow that one for a while. I'll let you know when you come up to the next change," he instructed. Again he watched as the dots followed the route he had marked out on his plan.

Inside the sewer there wasn't any chat. The three agents plodded on through the dirty water around their ankles, trying not to look too closely around them. Dan was taking the lead, shining his torch around and above to make sure he didn't walk into anything he didn't want to walk into. He was trying to quell his rising panic. He really hated this place ! He'd said he hated rats, but he hadn't said he was terrified of them. They made his skin crawl. Just thinking about them made his skin crawl. Dan wanted to wipe the sweat off his face, but couldn't because of the mask. There was no way he was taking the mask off.

"You both OK ?" he asked the others.

"Yes," they both replied. Dan didn't bother asking for details. He gritted his teeth, ignored the trickle of sweat running down the side of his face and kept plodding on, staring ahead of him.

Zoe blinked the condensation out of her eyes. She'd done some dreadful things with SKUL and hated every minute of it, but this was nearly as bad. She had heard the strain in Dan's voice when he'd asked them if they were OK, and knew he was no happier than she was. Zoe guessed that Aneisha was the same. She couldn't wait to get out of this dark, stinking tunnel and get on with the mission. She would rather take on the Crime Minister and all her minions than spend any more time in this sewer.

Aneisha trudged onwards wishing this would be over soon. She was bringing up the rear, stepping where the other two stepped. All she could hear was the sound of her own breathing inside the mask. It was claustrophobic and uncomfortable, but there was absolutely no way she was taking it off in here. They'd been told to be wary of any build-up of poisonous gases. They could easily be asphyxiated, and then there was the smell ! Aneisha could swear she could still smell this place through the mask. She knew this shouldn't be possible, but still, she was sure she could smell it.

Dan was breathing even more heavily. This seemed to be getting harder work as they went on. He looked down for the first time, and realised that the water was now up to his thighs. It was getting harder to push through. He turned round to the others and pointed down. "Are you two OK ?" he asked. "It's getting deeper."

"It's harder work, but I'm still dry," said Zoe. "How about you Aneisha ?" she asked.

"Same here. It's hard work, but I can still move. What do we do if it gets any deeper ?" asked Aneisha in a worried voice.

"Tom," said Dan. "The water is getting deeper. Is it going to get any worse ?" he asked.

Tom grabbed his plans and checked. He hadn't noticed they were gradually going downhill. "Erm, yes it's going down a bit further before you come up to the entrance tunnel," he said. "How deep is it now ?" he asked.

"It's up to my thighs," said Dan. "It's slowing us down a bit," he added.

"Oh, I wondered why you were slowing down," said Tom. "I don't know how deep it will get," he admitted. "I think the tunnel is going to drop another foot or so before you start to go up."

After another few minutes, the water level had risen up to their waists. Dan was struggling to move and Aneisha and Zoe were both struggling to keep their feet on the floor of the tunnel. "Tom, we're in trouble," said Dan, panting for breath. "These suits are full of air and they're making us float. We're being lifted off the ground. What can we do ? Zoe and Aneisha can't walk properly," he said, sounding a little scared. Tom couldn't think what to suggest.

"Dan, this is Frank. Can you brace yourselves against the roof of the tunnel ?" suggested Frank. They all reached up to the roof. Dan could just place the palms of his hands against the tunnel roof and push himself to the floor. Zoe and Aneisha couldn't quite reach.

"I can do it Frank but I can't hold the torch as well. Zoe and Aneisha can't reach," reported Dan. "Should they go back ?" he asked.

"No, you can't go on your own," said Zoe. "It's too dangerous. Frank, what can we do ?" she asked.

"Dan, if one of the girls held on to you, could you pull them through the deep water one at a time ?" asked Frank.

"I don't know. I can try," said Dan. "How far is it ?" he asked.

"It looks like about 50 metres now until you reach the ladder," said Tom. "It will probably get a little bit deeper before you get there," he warned, reluctantly. Tom felt like he was only making things worse for them. "Sorry guys. I wish it were better news," he added softly.

"It's OK Tom. You keep an eye on things for us," said Dan. "OK, let's give it a try. Zoe ? You going to be OK for a minute or two on your own Neish ?" he asked.

"I'll be fine. Go on," said Aneisha, sounding much calmer than she felt.

Zoe shuffled over to Dan's position, holding herself upright by pushing on the side walls. She wrapped her arms round Dan's waist thinking this would put less weight on him. "Oh no, Zoe ! That's no good. It's pulling me off balance. You'll have to put your arms round my neck," said Dan, struggling to stay upright. She did as he asked and he steadied himself. "Yeah, that's it. OK, let's go," said Dan. "Shine the torch in front of me please?" he asked. Zoe pointed her torch ahead for him to see where he was going.

Dan walked on through the water. As Tom had warned, it got steadily deeper until it was up to Dan's chest. He was pushing as hard as he could against the roof trying to keep himself upright in the flowing water. It was really hard work and soon his arms were aching. He couldn't move very quickly because of the water pressure and the extra weight of Zoe pulling against him. "How. Much. Further. Tom," he panted.

"Nearly there," said Tom. "Anther few metres. There should be a ladder on your right. You're doing really well Dan," he encouraged. At last they saw the ladder glistening in front of them. Dan reached out and grabbed it, pulling Zoe in. Puffing to get his breath back, Dan waited until Zoe was on the ladder and climbing. "There's a rest area half way up Zoe. You can wait for the others there," suggested Tom.

Dan rubbed his aching arms and pushed his feet back to the floor. He started the long walk back to get Aneisha. "Aneisha, I'm coming back," he grunted. "I can't use my torch, could you shine yours on to the surface of the water for me please ?" he asked. A faint dot of light shone in the distance. Where he was it was dark. Gritting his teeth, Dan set off towards the distant light. He wished he'd asked Zoe to stay and shine her torch for him before she left. It was too late now.

As he struggled closer to Aneisha's light he saw something moving in the water. Something swam past him. It was a rat. He instantly froze in position. His breathing got faster. "Dan ?" it was Tom's voice. "Is something wrong ?" Shivering in fear, Dan couldn't speak. All that came out was a tiny whimper."

"Dan !" It was Aneisha's voice. "Is it a rat ?" she asked quietly.

"Mm hm,"muttered Dan. He couldn't even bear to open his mouth to speak. It was as if he were holding up the roof of the tunnel and one wrong move would bring it collapsing in on his head. He was terrified and gasping for air.

"Dan, you've got to calm down, or you're going to hyper-ventilate. You can't afford to pass out in here," warned Aneisha. "Take a deep breath and hold it OK?" she said as calmly as she could. "The rats can't get you through the suit. You're completely protected, understand ?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's OK," gasped Dan finally. "Keep moving, keep moving," he muttered to himself.

Grimly he forced his feet forward. One at a time, feet, hands, feet, hands, he ordered his body to move. Finally he made it to Aneisha. The muscles in his arms were screaming now. He wrapped his arms around Aniesha and hugged her in relief. Aneisha was shocked to feel his shivering body through the two layers of protective suit. "It's OK Dan. You made it. You're doing brilliantly," she told him quietly. She was starting to feel cold herself, after standing still in the water flow for what had been about 20 minutes. "Can you do it one more time ?" she asked him gently. He nodded and turned around. Taking a deep breath, Aneisha wrapped her arms around Dan's neck and pointed her torch ahead of them both as he started pushing his way back down the tunnel one last time.

Dan lost track of how long it took to pull Aneisha through the tunnel. It was pure torture towards the end. Aneisha could hear him gasping for breath and feel the tension in his muscles as they struggled to hold them against the flow of water. Another couple of rats swam past them and each time she felt Dan tense up, until the creatures had passed. "There !" said Aneisha, seeing the ladder in front of them. They both reached out and grabbed the ladder. Aneisha stepped on to the ladder and pulled herself to her waist height in the water. Dan was slumped against the ladder, struggling to get his breath back. Aneisha squeezed his shoulder. "You were brilliant Dan," she said softly. "Can you make it up the ladder ?" she asked him. Still breathing heavily, he just nodded. They both set off up the ladder to meet Zoe.


	8. Chapter 8

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? Now get out !**

"_There !" said Aneisha, seeing the ladder in front of them. They both reached out and grabbed the ladder. Aneisha stepped on to the ladder and pulled herself to her waist height in the water. Dan was slumped against the ladder, struggling to get his breath back. Aneisha squeezed his shoulder. "You were brilliant Dan," she said softly. "Can you make it up the ladder ?" she asked him. Still breathing heavily, he just nodded. They both set off up the ladder to meet Zoe._

Zoe was waiting anxiously for them to arrive. Dan slumped on to the small platform when he made it there and sat breathing heavily. "Dan needs a minute to rest," reported Zoe.

"You can't take too long team," warned Frank. "We're behind schedule. Sorry Dan," he added apologetically.

Dan just nodded. After a couple of minutes he said, "OK. Let's go." Zoe took the lead and they headed up the shaft.

"Tom there's a large metal panel. Is that the exit ?" asked Zoe.

"Yes, that should be it," said Tom. "It seems to come up inside the lower levels of the industrial building," he told them. "Obviously I can't tell what will be up there though."

There was another smaller platform area under the metal panel. Zoe stood on this and tried to prize open the door. It groaned slightly, but she couldn't open it. Aneisha joined her and they both leant their shoulders against it. This time it opened a few inches and they were able to look out into what looked like a deserted large concrete room. They lowered it again. "I think we could push it open between the two of us," said Zoe.

"It would crash to the floor though," pointed out Aneisha. "It would make a heck of a bang."

Dan arrived on the platform. "If you two manage to push it open, I'll try to grab it and stop it falling over," he suggested. His arm muscles were still screaming at him. He was sure he'd pulled something in his upper left arm. He could barely lift it. Hopefully, pulling would use different muscles from pushing. The two girls pressed their shoulders to the door and pushed as hard as they could. Once it was vertical, Dan grabbed it and held it. Zoe pulled herself out, followed by Aneisha. Then they both took the door and held it balanced on its hinge while Dan struggled out. He had obviously lost a lot of the power in his arms. Getting to his feet, he helped the others lower the door as gently and quietly as they could.

They all immediately started peeling off their protective suits. "Oh, thank goodness that thing's off !" said Aneisha as she wrenched off the boots. "Urgh, it stinks !" she said

"What shall we do with them ?" asked Zoe, looking around her.

"Pile them up behind the door," said Aneisha, pointing to the room's only other entrance. They all dragged their smelly yellow suits and masks over to the door and stuffed them against the wall by the door's hinges. Aneisha stood with her hands on her hips looking at them. "They might not see them, but boy are they going to smell them !" she said.

Zoe shrugged her shoulders. "It'll have to do," she stated simply.

"Tom, where do we go ?" asked Dan. His hair was plastered to his head with sweat and he already looked tired. Aneisha hoped he was going to make it through the rest of the mission. Zoe was obviously thinking the same thing as Aneisha because when their glances met they could read the concern in one another's eyes.

"OK, I would suggest you head upwards," said Tom. "You're below ground level at the moment."

Zoe opened the door a crack and peeked outside. "There are lights out here. Nobody around. Come on, let's go," she said. The others followed her out into a corridor. They snaked through various corridors and up a staircase before they encountered anyone. They all had to pull in behind a door as two KORPS agents came through it and headed down the stairs, talking to one another.

"I can't believe they grabbed a bunch of kids pretending to be spies !" said one of the KORPS agents. "What are the chances of that ?"

"Yeah. Thompson won't be doing much for a while. They've made a right mess of him," said the other man grimly. "Doesn't pay to make mistakes like that around here. Not if the boss gets to know about it."

Once the men had gone, Zoe poked her head round the door. "Empty !" she said, before slipping through. They dashed down a corridor, listening out for other footsteps. "Tom !" Zoe whispered into her headset. "Where should we try to find them ?"

"I only have the original building drawings," said Tom. "There are some smaller rooms you could try. Go to the end of the corridor you are in, and then turn right at the end." They did as he suggested and were about to turn the last corner when they heard voices. They pressed themselves against the wall at the corner and listened.

"What are we going to do with them ?" asked a man. "Has the Crime Minister said yet ?" he asked.

"She hasn't said what she wants yet," said another voice. "They're just a bunch of kids. I don't really fancy killing them. It's not like they're professionals or nothing."

"You're getting soft in your old age," said the first man. "If she says we kill them, we've got to kill them."

"Yeah, I know. It's them girls. I hate killing girls," said the second man.

Aneisha pulled a small black ball from her pocket. Zoe took it, checked the length of the corridor, then pressed the ball and counted before swiftly rolling it down the concrete floor. There was a popping noise and a hiss. They all silently counted and then dashed out of their hiding place and ran down the corridor. Two KORPS guards were lying asleep on the floor. They appeared to be guarding the end of another corridor. Running to the end, they found a line of barred doors.

"Keep watch !" Zoe hissed to Aneisha. Aneisha ran back to the sleeping guards to watch out for anyone approaching. Zoe and Dan then ran to each door in turn, looking through the bars to find the one holding the actors. At the last door they found them.

The four teens were lying on narrow beds, but were all awake and looked tense. "Are you alright ?" whispered Zoe. They all sat up in surprise.

"Who are you ?" asked Maria.

"Wait, aren't you one of the kids who played in our scenes at St. Heart's ?" asked Tim.

"Yes, that's right," said Zoe. "I'm Zoe. This is Dan. You've met Dan," she said. The four actors stared at Dan in disbelief. They looked at both of the agents from head to foot. They were dressed in very similar clothes.

"Oh, boy. I thought you had a secret, but I didn't realise it was this big !" said Laura, looking at Dan. Then she sniffed. "Can you smell something ?" she asked.

"Yeah, you can. Just don't go there !" grunted Dan crossly.

Laura lifted both her hands in the air in submission. "OK. Only asking you know. So you going to get us out of here ?" she asked.

Dan clicked his fingers. "Keys !" he hissed, turning to find Aneisha standing in front of him holding a set of keys.

"Looking for these ?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," grinned Dan. Aneisha raised her eyebrows and returned to the end of the corridor while Dan tried each of the keys in the lock.

Laura pointed after Aneisha's retreating back. "And ?" she said.

"Aneisha," said Zoe. "You might have seen her too."

Soon they had opened the door and they all gathered at the end of the corridor with Aneisha. The four actors stood staring at the three agents in shock. "Is anyone else getting this weird fairground mirror effect ?" asked Laura, "Because you guys looks kinda scarily like us."

"Nobody looks like me," said Tim, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Oh, Tom says hi !" said Aneisha.

"Tom ?" asked Tim. Dan, Zoe and Aneisha pointed to their headsets.

"Soooo," began Mike. "You guys are actually agents ?" he said in disbelief. "Teenage agents ?"

"Yep," said Aneisha. "And while I'd love to discuss it further, we're agents in the middle of a KORPS base where they're trying to decide whether or not to kill you." she explained. "Dan's exhausted from how we got in here, Zoe is KORPS' number one target, and I'm not exactly miss popularity either. Can we please get moving ?"

"Tom ! How do we get out of here ?" asked Zoe. "And don't mention sewers OK ?"


	9. Chapter 9

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? Fight or flight !**

"_Soooo," began Mike. "You guys are actually agents ?" he said in disbelief. "Teenage agents ?"_

"_Yep," said Aneisha. "And while I'd love to discuss it further, we're agents in the middle of a KORPS base where they're trying to decide whether or not to kill you." she explained. "Dan's exhausted from how we got in here, Zoe is KORPS' number one target, and I'm not exactly miss popularity either. Can we please get moving ?"_

"_Tom ! How do we get out of here ?" asked Zoe. "And don't mention sewers OK ?"_

"You can't use the sewers. It's raining. The guys here say they will be flooding soon," said Frank's voice. "You have to find another way out Tom," he said.

Tom puffed out his cheeks. He suddenly felt very alone. How was he going to get them out ? "Could MI9 start the raid ?" he asked, desperately.

"It's dangerous to raid the building with the team and the actors still in there Tom. We need to get them to a safer place, preferably away from the missile," said Frank. "You need to stay clear of the missile team !" he instructed.

"We don't know where the missile is," said Dan. "It could be anywhere in here. I could be sitting on it for all I know."

"What missile ?" asked Tim. The agents were standing, staring into space and nobody had said a word until Dan had suddenly started talking about missiles.

"What ?" asked Dan, looking up confused.

"We're getting instructions," explained Aneisha, pointing to her headset. "Well, to be honest, we're not getting any instructions right now !" she said. She was exasperated now. "Look, could you guys get your finger out ? We're standing in the middle of a KORPS base wondering where to go. These guards aren't going to sleep forever. Can you please tell us where to go ?" she demanded.

"OK, look, you might as well head towards where the van came in," said Tom. "At least we know there's an exit there," he added. "Head back down the corridor and then up the first flight of stairs you come to. It might get busier though," he warned.

"That'll have to do," said Aneisha. "Right, you four stay with us at all times," she said to the four actors. "On no account get separated understand ? If it goes badly, there won't be another episode," she added. The four teens swallowed nervously and nodded.

"We'll take the front," said Dan, nodding towards Zoe. "Can you bring up the back Aneisha ?" he asked her. Aneisha nodded and they immediately set off as quickly as they dared. Dan and Zoe scanned the corridors looking for trouble. Zoe had a couple of slow-motion grenades in her hands. Aneisha was holding a smoke grenade and Dan was holding a taser.

"Next left," said Tom's voice in their ears. Dan and Zoe turned left and met three astonished KORPS guards face to face. Dan tasered two together before they could say anything, followed by the third. The third managed to shout an alarm. Hearing footsteps running in the distance behind them they upped the pace. The actors were starting to sound out of breath.

"Up the stairs. Door on your right," instructed Tom. Dan swerved to the right and pulled open the door and they all dashed through. Immediately an alarm started to blare out. "Leave the stairs on the next level," said Tom.

Zoe opened the next door and they poured out into another corridor. "To your right," said Tom's voice. They started to the right, but were almost instantly faced with a wall of KORPS agents.

"There are too many," said Zoe, after a mental head count. "Other way !" she said, throwing the slow-motion grenade at the pursuing KORPS agents.. They all turned and faced the other way, leaving the slowly-moving people behind them. Another group of KORPS guards appeared at the other end of the corridor, also running towards them. "No !" shouted Zoe. She hurled the other slow-motion grenade as they skidded to a halt. At this point a door opened nearby and a puzzled looking man in a lab coat stuck his head outside as if to see what all the commotion was about. Seeing guards at both ends of the corridor and seeing the, apparently, large group of MI High agents in front of him he looked shocked and tried to slam the door shut. Both Zoe and Dan lunged and grabbed the door out of his hands. "Get in !" shouted Zoe, almost pushing the group of actors through the door behind Dan. Once they were all in, Zoe shut the door and heard its lock click shut.

"Get that bench and stick it in front of the door !" ordered Dan. Mike, Tim and Laura grabbed the long desk and dragged it in front of the door. They all shoved it up hard against the door. They could now hear banging on the other side of the door.

"Thank God for that !" said Dan, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and turning around to face the room they were in. "Oh hell ! I don't believe it !" he exclaimed. The others turned round to see laid out in front of them a large industrial laboratory facility, in the middle of which, lying on its side was a large, cylindrical, red and white missile.

"Oh what ?" complained Aneisha. "Frank, good news ! We found the missile !" she said sarcastically.

"Well, get out of there !" said Frank's voice.

"Just one tiny problem," said Aneisha. "We're kind of locked in with it. I think there's only one door and its got a hundred KORPS thugs on the other side of it."

"Are the actors with you ?" asked Frank.

"Yep. All here," said Aneisha.

While she was talking to Frank, Dan and Zoe had been circling the room, looking for any other doors. There was a large metal, double door at one end. Dan spotted the man who had opened the door, cowering underneath a lab table. "Wh wh who are you ?" stammered the man.

"I'm from MI9," said Dan. He gestured towards the metal doors. "Can you lock those from in here ?" he asked.

"They're already locked," said the man. "They can only be opened from inside here," he explained, pointing to a control panel on the wall. "Nobody can get in," he added.

"Yes, and we can't get out," said Dan, pointing to the door they had come through. There were now repeated loud banging noises coming from the door as the KORPS agents tried to force their way in.

"Perhaps you should put more furniture up against it to stop them coming in," suggested the man in the lab coat.

"Not a bad idea," agreed Dan. "Guys !" he shouted across to the actors. "Could you start piling heavy furniture up against the door please. Just use your heads," he added. The four actors had a quick discussion and then started moving suitable items to the door to help block it.

"Just a minute. Whose side are you on ?" Dan asked the man.

"Whatever side is going to get rid of this damned missile," said the man. "I've been held captive here for the last two months to make this thing for KORPS. My name's Alex. Alex Davison by the way," he said, holding out his hand. Dan shook the man's hand. "Nice to meet you Alex. Wish it wasn't under these circumstances though."

"Oh well. It makes a change from being shouted at by that dreadful woman," said Alex, shivering.

Zoe and Aneisha came over to them looking curious. "This is Alex," said Dan, waving towards the man. "He's been forced to build the missile for KORPS," he explained.

"So you're trapped here as well," said Zoe.

"I'm afraid it's very secure," said the man apologetically. "There's no way out unless you can blow your way out," he explained.

Dan looked around the room and his eyes settled on the missile. He looked across at Zoe and pointed at the missile. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?" he asked.

Zoe looked at the missile and then back at Dan. "No," she said.


	10. Chapter 10

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? Kaboom !**

_Dan looked around the room and his eyes settled on the missile. He looked across at Zoe and pointed at the missile. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?" he asked._

_Zoe looked at the missile and then back at Dan. "No," she said._

Dan sighed. She could be so literal sometimes. "Alex, can you fire this missile ?" he asked.

"Well, yes, but it is very dangerous," said Alex. "Oh, you're not thinking of firing it in here are you ?" he asked aghast.

"What other options do we have ?" asked Dan. "One: we can blow our way out of here. Two: it destroys the missile. What's not to like ?"

"Well, three: it could take out half of the town, and four: it could take out all of us !" pointed out Aneisha.

"Wait a minute, Dan, are you suggesting firing the missile to get out of there ?" asked Frank's shocked voice.

"Yes," said Dan.

There was a very long pause over their headsets, then Tom said, "Actually, that's not a bad idea. We need to know where you're pointing it though. Also we need to know how powerful it is. Oh, actually, I could work that out from the parts that were stolen. How are you going to fire it though ? You don't know how !" he pointed out.

"It's OK. We've got the guy who built it," said Dan. "Alex Davison. He says he's been held captive and forced to build it. Erm, Frank, could you check ?" he asked quietly.

"I'll check him out," promised Frank. "Tom I think we don't have any other options. Work out where to point the thing to cause minimum damage please ?" he asked.

"I'm hoping to cause maximum damage !" muttered Dan.

The bangs coming from the entrance door were getting steadily louder. "Tom, don't take too long. They could be in here any minute !" warned Aneisha. "I don't think we have a lot of time."

"Alex, can you start getting this thing ready to fire ?" asked Dan.

"Well, yes, but it will be very dangerous," said Alex. Dan just pointed at the banging behind the door. "OK. Fair point," said the man, before starting typing at a workstation nearby. "I will need a destination to programme in," he said.

"Post Code ?" asked Dan.

Alex turned and stared hard at him. "We are not trying to blow up someone's house. Geographic coordinates please, " said the man firmly.

"Oh yeah. Tom, can you give us coordinates to fire this thing at please ?" asked Dan.

"On it," came Tom's voice. He sounded preoccupied. Obviously he was working, or possibly playing a computer game. It was sometimes hard to tell.

By now Mike, Laura, Tim and Maria had walked over to join them. "We've put everything up against the door that we can think of," said Maria. The agents looked at the huge pile of stuff leaning up against the door.

"Good effort guys !" said Aneisha grinning. "You should think about doing this professionally you know," she said jokingly.

"Oooooh, no way. Way too dangerous !" said Tim, waving his hands.

"Erm, do you have any ideas about getting us out of here ?" asked Mike quite timidly. He seemed to have lost a lot of his self-assurance since being captured by KORPS. "I don't know how long that lot's going to hold out," he said, pointing to the pile of furniture and filing cabinets blocking the door.

Aneisha pointed at the missile. "See that ?" she said. They nodded. Then they all went pale.

"You're not ..." said Laura, trailing off.

"Yep, we are," said Dan. He lifted his arms meaning to fold them, but couldn't raise them above his waist. "Oh, ow !" he groaned. "Aargh," he moaned. The actors looked concerned.

"You OK ?" asked Maria.

"Yes, I'm just great. Don't ask me to wave," groaned Dan. He walked off to check with Alex.

"Team, I've checked up on Alex. He's legitimate," said Frank's voice. "He's a defence employee. He went missing about two months ago. I think you can rely on him," he added.

"That ties up with what he told us," agreed Aneisha. "Thanks Frank. Any joy getting coordinates Tom ?" she asked.

"Yes. Write this down," instructed Tom. "I'm trying to avoid any major built-up areas. Tell your guy to make it explode in the location I give you OK ?" He then read out a set of coordinates and Aneisha wrote them down on a piece of paper which she gave to Alex. Alex read them and nodded, before entering them into a computer interface.

Finally Alex stood up from his computer. "It's all set," he told them nervously.

"Where do we point it ?" asked Dan.

"Oh, that way !" said Alex, pointing towards the metal doors.

Dan, Zoe, Aneisha and Mike took hold of the trolley holding the missile and turned it to point at the large metal doors.

"Right, I will set a countdown, and we need to take some sort of cover," said Alex. "I'm not too sure how this is going to go. I've never been in the same room as a missile launch before," he said.

"Where's the best place to take cover then ?" asked Dan.

"Oh, probably over there," said Alex, pointing to the corner of the room to the side of the metal doors. "We should pile up some protection," he suggested.

"Sounds like a job for us," said Mike. "Come on team !" He and the other actors started grabbing more benches and piling them up to form a sort of barrier for the corner. Zoe and Aneisha went to help. Dan waited with Alex while he made the last few commands.

"How long do you think I should give it ?" asked Alex. There was a massive bang and the entrance door was blown off its hinges.

"Not a lot !" shouted Dan.

"Understood !" shouted Alex hitting a keyboard key. "Run for it everyone. Thirty seconds !" he shouted. Alex, plus all of the agents and actors sprinted for the corner and vaulted over behind the protective barrier. The furniture piled against the door was blown away and a group of KORPS agents clambered in over the bits that were left in their way. They grinned when they saw the agents clustered in the corner. Then they looked across at the back of the missile glowing red. They realised what was happening and the expressions on their faces turned to panic.

"Ten, nine, eight," counted Alex, staring at his watch.


	11. Chapter 11

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? The great escape.**

"_Run for it everyone. Forty seconds !" he shouted. Alex, plus all of the agents and actors sprinted for the corner and vaulted over behind the protective barrier. The furniture piled against the door was blown away and a group of KORPS agents clambered in over the bits that were left in their way. They grinned when they saw the agents clustered in the corner. Then they looked across at the back of the missile. Then they realised what was happening and the expressions on their faces turned to panic. _

"_Ten, nine, eight," counted Alex, staring at his watch._

To Dan it was as if everything went into slow motion in front of his eyes. The KORPS guards turned and ran screaming from the room. There was more screaming from outside the room as the missile itself started to make a loud whistling, howling noise. Dan looked across at Zoe. She looked frightened. He lifted his arms slightly and she nestled into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Dan rested his head on her shoulder and smelled the wonderful scent of her hair. It was the thing that reminded him of her the most. He opened his eyes and saw that the others were all clinging to each other. He wondered if they were going to survive this. He had guessed that setting off a rocket in the room they were in would be dangerous, but couldn't see any alternative. He hoped he wouldn't be the one to get them all killed.

Dan looked into Zoe's eyes. "I love you," he mouthed to her. She smiled back at him. The noise in the room was now deafening. She kissed him gently on the lips. The missile roared into action and they clung tightly to one another, burying their faces in each other's shoulder.

The noise was terrifying. A wave of heat washed over them and the room filled with a stench of burning. After one last enormous roar from the missile, there was a terrific crash as it shot out through the metal doors. Still clinging to Zoe, Dan raised his head cautiously to look around them. His ears were buzzing and he couldn't hear anything. There were flames everywhere and the smoke was making him cough.

Some of their protective benches were on fire. He looked around them for a fire extinguisher. There was one attached to the wall nearby. Letting go of Zoe he stood and clambered over broken chairs and tables, coughing all the while from the smoke to get to the extinguisher. He wrenched it from the wall and dragged it back to the group of huddled teens. By now he could hardly lift the heavy tank. Mike noticed him struggling and got up to help. While Mike held the extinguisher, Dan sprayed the burning material closest to them. Now that there was less flame and smoke around them they could see their way to where the large doors had been. Dan shook his head and patted his ears. He couldn't hear anything above a sort of muffled buzzing noise.

Dan looked at Zoe and pointed to his ears, shaking his head. She shrugged and mouthed, "me too" back to him. He looked back at the way they had come in and then to the wreckage of the metal doors. He pointed to the doors and waved the others on. They all nodded and followed him across the room. Mike brought the fire extinguisher and they both used it to put out fires which blocked their way. Once out of the doors they could see a line of devastation stretching out in front of them.

The missile had blown through walls, furniture and anything in its path. As they made their way across the corridor they were in they felt rather than heard a massive explosion. The ground vibrated beneath their feet and bricks and concrete blocks fell from the damaged walls in front of them. A section of the remaining metal door crashed to the ground behind them. The seven teens and the scientist huddled together in the middle of the corridor for protection. Smoke billowed out of the destroyed lab behind them, making them all cough.

Aneisha looked through the smoke and thought she could see KORPS agents working their way into the lab behind them, wielding fire extinguishers. She tapped Zoe on the shoulder and pointed. Zoe tugged on Dan's sleeve and pointed at their pursuers. Dan nodded and pointed to the hole in the wall in front of them. They all nodded and took turns to clamber through while the others kept a lookout for falling debris. There was another large industrial work area on the other side strewn with odd bits of rusting equipment. Zoe waved at them to hurry. She was concerned that their pursuers would soon catch up with them. They ran. Dan motioned for Mike to leave the extinguisher. They would have to take their chances. It was slowing them down too much. Mike dropped the extinguisher and caught up with the others.

After the missile fired, Tom monitored its route. "Frank, it went where we said. It should have missed any residential areas. Did MI9 manage to evacuate people ?" he asked.

"Yes, just," said Frank's voice. "The SWAT team are going in now. Can you warn the team ?" he asked. "I can't seem to get through to them," he explained.

"Dan ? Zoe ? Aneisha !" called out Tom. There was no reply. He could hear noises, but no voices through their headsets. "Frank, I can't get hold of them either. I can hear coughing and stuff through their microphones, but no voices. It's like they've gone silent," he said, frustrated.

"Oh !" said Frank. "Perhaps the missile firing has affected their hearing. They're still showing up with their tracers aren't they ?" he asked.

"Yes," said Tom, looking at the dots on the screen. "Oh, they're moving through the building. They must be OK," he said, sounding relieved. "They look like they're following the missile path," he added.

"They're heading straight towards the SWAT team then," said Frank. "I'll warn the SWAT team leader. I don't want them getting caught in the cross-fire."

The group of agents, the actors and Alex were struggling to make their way through the wreckage and rubble inside the industrial building. As they took turns to climb over a pile of breeze blocks Aneisha glanced up ahead and saw many tiny bobbing lights coming towards them. "Zoe, look !" she shouted, pointing ahead. Zoe was just beginning to get her hearing back. She looked up in alarm. A torch started flashing at them. "It's Morse code !" shouted Aneisha. "M. I. 9 ! It's the SWAT team ! Great !" she said. The two girls pulled Dan over the pile. He was coughing a lot and obviously exhausted now. Zoe pointed to the bobbing lights ahead and put her thumbs up to Dan. He looked, blinked and nodded. They got up and began running towards the oncoming SWAT team. Everyone was tired. Dan was staggering and tripping occasionally through tiredness and steadily falling back in the group. Zoe slowed to help him. Mike and Laura looked like they would also stop to help, but Aneisha furiously waved them on and they reluctantly ran on ahead.

Aneisha thought she heard a faint popping sound and glanced back to see Dan falling to the ground, with Zoe trying to catch him. Aneisha looked ahead to see the SWAT team frantically waving for them to get down. She saw a piece of plaster pinging off the wall beside her head and realised that they were being shot at. She dived for the ground as did all the others. When she looked up she saw the SWAT team taking firing positions and shooting over the teens' prone bodies. The SWAT team then rushed towards them and took up positions behind them. They still hadn't reached Zoe and Dan. Aneisha watched anxiously as the MI9 officers fought their way to the two agents huddled together on the ground. Zoe looked like she was crying. Aneisha had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Please don't let it be bad !

More MI9 agents passed, making their way back into the abandoned factory. The actors were being helped up and led away. Someone also helped up Aneisha and pointed to her to follow the others. She made to go back to Zoe and Dan who were now surrounded by a small group of agents, but she was held back and made to follow the others. Reluctantly she did as she was told. As she glumly picked her way through the rubble she passed a medical team running past her carrying a stretcher and her feeling of dread increased. Finally she arrived in the open air and breathed in the cold, clean air with relief. It was dark, but the area was filled with lights. She saw an ambulance waiting and found the group of actors huddled together looking worried.

She saw Maria mouthing the words "Dan and Zoe ?" It was too much for Aneisha. She put her hand over her face to hide her tears, but couldn't disguise them. Maria and the other actors pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. After she had calmed a little she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around in time to see a stretcher being carried past. Zoe was walking beside it. Dan was lying on the stretcher. His jacket and shirt had been cut away and the top of his arm was tightly bandaged. He looked like he was in some pain, but he was awake. Aneisha breathed a sigh of relief. She felt arms hugging her again, but this time it was relief, rather than comfort.

Dan and Zoe went in the ambulance. Another van pulled up and Frank got out. Aneisha rushed to hug him. He looked relieved to see her, as well as the actors in one piece. He waved to them and Alex to get into the van and they were driven away.

They were taken to a hospital where the doctors checked them over. They had all breathed in a lot of smoke and there were various scratches and bruises, but they were largely unhurt. The actors were taken home. Zoe and Aneisha stayed to see Dan. After a while Tom arrived looking worried. "Hey, what's the matter ?" Aneisha asked him. Their hearing was steadily coming back.

"I guess you didn't hear it," said Tom. He was now hugging himself and he looked haunted.

"What ?" asked Aneisha.

"When Dan got shot. I guess he couldn't hear himself. He, he .." Tom stopped, obviously upset. Aneisha pulled him into a hug. "He screamed, so loudly !" whispered Tom. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "It was horrible !" he gasped. Aneisha held him close and kissed him on the forehead.

"It's not always easy sitting in the comfy chair is it ?" she asked him kindly. He shook his head.

Frank woke them up where they were falling asleep in their chairs. "Are you ready to go home ?" he asked.

"What about Dan ? Is he all right ?" asked Tom anxiously.

"The gunshot wound was fairly superficial," said Frank. "Dan's coming home too. He just needs to rest now. He's going to be fine," he assured them. Just then, Dan came out into the corridor wearing a plain black T-shirt in place of the one which had been cut up by the paramedics. His left arm was in a sling and his face was pale and tired.

Zoe ran up to Dan and hugged him tightly. Dan held her with his good arm. "Hey," he whispered, smiling at her, "I'm not dead yet." Zoe giggled and kissed his cheek. Aneisha and Tom gave him a quick hug. They were all exhausted now and slept in the back of the van as Frank took them back to base. They were supposed to still be on their sleepovers, so he set them up in the spare bedrooms at the back of the base before retreating to his own rooms.


	12. Chapter 12

**The team have rivals, only they're just fictional characters. Nobody's as good as the real thing, are they ? Secrets and lies. Last chapter. Hope you liked it.**

Zoe woke the next day, trying to remember where she was. This was not her room. Then she looked across and saw Aneisha sleeping in the bed beside her. She remembered what had happened the night before. She got up and showered and put on the clean clothes she had brought with her and left her room. She could hear noises coming from another room.

Zoe walked into a kitchen and diner area to find Frank making drinks and Dan sitting at a table swallowing painkillers with a glass of water. "Hi Zoe," said Frank. "Could you help Dan get his sling back on please. He can't manage it on his own." Zoe took the black cloth sling and helped Dan slide his arm inside. It was obviously hurting him. He sat in the chair breathing deeply for a minute once they'd finished.

"Can you hear all right now Dan ?" asked Zoe once he looked a little more relaxed.

"Bit buzzy. You ?" asked Dan.

"Same," said Zoe.

Frank brought them both a cup of tea. "You can have toast or cereal," he said. "Help yourselves !"

"I'll have toast thanks Frank. What about you Dan ?" asked Zoe. Dan wanted toast too, so Zoe offered to make it for them both. He didn't try to stop her. Zoe thought he still looked very tired and sore. They were sitting munching by the time Aneisha and Tom ambled in yawning.

Once everyone was sitting, eating, Aneisha asked, "What's going to happen about the actors ? They know who we are and where we are."

"Ah, there's a meeting at HQ this afternoon. The actors and representatives from the TV production company will be there. You're invited if you want to come. You don't have to come if you don't feel up to it Dan," said Frank. "If you all get ready, I'll take you home," he added.

Later that day, Frank was unsurprised to find all four of the agents sitting in a waiting room in HQ. Dan looked a little brighter so Frank guessed he'd got some sleep at home. "Ready team ?" he asked. They nodded and he took them into a large meeting room. Inside were the programme director, some people they didn't recognise, Alex Davison and the four actors. Everyone turned to stare at them as they came in. Stella was standing at the head of the table with a pile of papers in front of her.

The director pointed at Frank and said, "Aren't you the school caretaker ?"

"Yes, that's right," said Frank. "It's my cover. I'm the team's handler," he explained.

The adults in the film crew were looking a little shell-shocked. Mike, Laura, Maria and Tim all grinned at the other teens. "You must be Tom !" said Tim to Tom.

Tom grinned back at him. "Yeah, spot the geek huh !"

Once they were seated Stella started speaking. "Welcome everyone and thankyou for coming when I know some of you are very tired after recent events. You probably all realise by now that we have a difficult situation. You have become aware of the identities of several secret MI9 agents. When your actors were kidnapped in error by a criminal organisation we felt duty bound to assist in their rescue. However, this now places our team's safety at risk. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that they face significant dangers every day. It is essential that their safety is protected. With this in mind we are going to ask all of you to sign this section of the Official Secrets Act. This forbids you from ever giving away the names or location of our agents or anything which could lead someone to find them. You can never discuss the events of the past couple of days with anyone, including members of your family or close friends. It is essential that you comply with this request. Otherwise we will have no choice but to close down the MI High operation, disband it's members and give them and their families new identities," she explained.

The team suddenly felt worried for the first time as it was brought home to them what the consequences would be if their existence were ever exposed. Tom swallowed nervously. He hoped they were going to cooperate.

"Is there anything you want to ask me ?" she asked the visitors.

The TV people all looked at one another nervously and shook their heads. Mike looked at the other actors and they nodded to him. He put up his hand. "Erm, we just wanted to say that we really appreciated what Dan, Aneisha, Zoe and Tom did for us. We probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. They risked their lives to help us and we want to say thankyou," said Mike. He paused for a moment and then continued. "The other thing is, that I admit we will find it very hard not to ever talk about what happened, but we really understand why we can't and we are happy to sign your document."

"Well said Mike," said the director approvingly. "I think that goes for all of us here, doesn't it ?" he asked, looking round at all the adults. They all nodded seriously.

"Thankyou very much for your understanding," said Stella, as she handed round copies of the document. "Please have a quick read so you understand what's required of you," she added.

There was a period of silence as all the visitors read through their documents. Someone brought in a tray with drinks and biscuits. Stella waved the MI High team over to help themselves. Dan stuck a biscuit into the hand in the sling and carried the drink with the other hand. He sat back down in his chair and nibbled on the biscuit. Aneisha, Tom and Zoe stood and chatted quietly. Dan was gazing into the distance when Stella sat down next to him. "Still tired Dan ?" she asked quietly.

"Erm, yeah, a bit," he admitted reluctantly.

"I know it wasn't a bad wound Dan, but you did lose quite a lot of blood. Make sure you take it easy won't you ?" she said, smiling at him. "It will take you a few days to recover. Give it some time." Dan nodded and she patted him on the hand before getting up and collecting the forms which had now been signed by all the television people.

The four actors were now chatting with the agents. Mike came and sat next to Dan. "You could do what we do," he said to Dan. "You're obviously good at the physical stuff as well as the drama aspect.

"Oh no, I couldn't ever do anything like that," said Dan. "It might blow my cover. And anyway, I hate the drama stuff."

Mike looked at him and obviously wanted to ask something else. "Why do you do it ?" he eventually asked. "It's obviously dangerous. Really dangerous !" he added.

Dan thought about it for a minute. Then he joked, "Well, there's the girls and the gadgets and the excitement," with a laugh. Then he stopped. Mike had asked him a serious question after all. "Well, it matters. When you know you've prevented a crime or saved someone's life, there's nothing like it. You know it's more important than anything else you could ever do in your life." He stopped, feeling embarrassed.

Mike smiled at him. "Well, I'm glad that there are people like all of you with the guts to do it for real. I don't think it's for me," he admitted ruefully. "I'm sticking to the acting !"

Dan held out his hand and they shook hands. "It was good to meet you Mike," said Dan. "Thanks for the help. We probably won't be able to meet again though."

Mike nodded. "I understand," he said.

Finally, the TV people left and the team were left alone. The four agents stood in a group together. "You all right Dan ?" asked Tom.

"I'll be fine in a couple of days," said Dan. He looked vulnerable for a second, before his usual expression returned.

"Team hug," commanded Tom. "Definitely need one." The others giggled and wrapped their arms around one another tightly. "Couldn't do it without you guys," said Tom quietly.

"Same," said Dan.

"Me too," said Zoe and Aneisha.

Across the room, Stella and Frank were watching the four teens hugging. Frank slipped his arm around her waist and for once she didn't shrug him off. "Do you miss it ?" she asked him.

"Sometimes," he admitted. "But, you've got to be on the top of your game to survive. I'm doing more good where I am."

"You do a lot of good," said Stella. "You should get them home. They need a break."

It was months later when Dan's mother made him sit and watch 'his' episode of Teen Spies with her. His face burned with embarrassment when it came to his scene fighting the spies. "Oh, what a shame we can't see your face Dan," said his mother, sounding disappointed. "Still, I suppose it's for the best." Dan couldn't agree more. He tried to make his escape, but his mother wouldn't have it. "Oh, let's watch it to the end," she said. "I want to see what happens now !"

Dan's jaw dropped at the last scene. "Why do you do this then ?" asked a character. "It's dangerous."

Mike Masters' character thought carefully and then said, "Well, it matters. When you know you've prevented a crime or saved someone's life, there's nothing like it. You know it's more important than anything else you could ever do in your life."

The credits rolled and Dan's eye was caught by the dedication at the end. "To the real heroes. You know who you are," it said. When he looked round his Mum was getting up to leave. He could have sworn she was wiping a tear out of her eye. "You all right Mum ?" he asked.

"Just fine !" she said, leaving the room quickly.

The End


End file.
